List of alchemists

An alchemist is a person versed in the art of alchemy. Western alchemy flourished in Greco-Roman Egypt, the Islamic world during the Middle Ages, and then in Europe from the 13th to the 18th centuries. Indian alchemists and Chinese alchemists made contributions to Eastern varieties of the art. Alchemy is still practiced today by a few, and alchemist characters still appear in recent fictional works and video games.

A large number of alchemists are known from the thousands of surviving alchemical manuscripts and books. Some of their names are listed below. Due to the tradition of pseudepigraphy, the true author of some alchemical writings may differ from the name most often associated with that work. Some well-known historical figures such as Albertus Magnus and Aristotle are often incorrectly named amongst the alchemists as a result.

Legendary Alchmists

 * Hermes Trismegistus
 * Ostanes, the Persian

​Alchemists in Greco-Roman Egypt

 * Mary the Jewess
 * Pseudo-Democritus
 * Agathodaimon
 * Zosimos of Panopolis (ca. 300 AD)
 * Olympiodorus of Thebes (ca. 400)
 * Cleopatra the Alchemist
 * Pseudo-Aristotle
 * Pseudo-Plato
 * Stephen of Alexandria

Indian alchemists

 * Kanada, sage and philosopher (6th century BC)
 * Nagarjuna, the 10th century South Indian king
 * Yogi Vemana

Chinese alchemists

 * Wei Boyang
 * Zhang Guo the Elder (ca. 600)

Islamic alchemists

 * Khalid ibn Yazid, "Calid" (d. 704)
 * Jābir ibn Hayyān, "Geber" (c. 721 – 815)
 * Al-Farabi, "Alfarabi" (870 – 950/951)
 * Al-Kindi, "Alkindus" (801 – 873), a critic of alchemy
 * Ibn Umail, circa 900 AD
 * Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi, "Rhazes" (864 – 930)
 * Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abdallah ibn Sina, "Avicenna" (980 – 1037), a critic of alchemy, Father of modern Medicine
 * Al-Tughrai (1061–1121)
 * Artephius (c. 1150)
 * Abu' l-Qasim al-Iraqi, circa 1300 AD

European alchemists

 * Alain de Lille (Born from 1115 to 1128 – died in 1202(1203?))
 * Albertus Magnus (1193–1280)
 * Roger Bacon (1214–1294)
 * Pseudo-Geber (Spain, 13th century)
 * Ramon Llull (Raymond Lulli) (1235–1315)
 * Pope John XXII (1249–1334)
 * John Dastin (early 14th)
 * Arnold of Villanova (1245 – ?(before 1311))
 * Jean de Meung (c.1250 – c.1305)
 * Petrus Bonus (Early 14th century)
 * Ortolanus or Hortulanus (fl. 1358)
 * Gilles de Rais (1401–1440)
 * Bernard Trevisan (Bernard of Treves) (1406–1490)
 * George Ripley (England, 15th century)
 * Thomas Norton (c. 1433-c. 1513)
 * Johannes Trithemius (1462–1516)
 * Johann Georg Faust (ca. 1480–1540)
 * Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535)
 * Paracelsus (1493–1541)
 * Nicolas Flamel (15th century)
 * Thomas Charnock (1516/1524/1526–1581)
 * François Hotman (1524–1590)
 * John Dee (1527–1609)
 * Gerhard Dorn (c. 1530–1584)
 * Martin Ruland the Elder (1532-1602)
 * Richard Stanihurst (1547–1618)
 * Tycho Brahe (1546–1601)
 * Edward Kelley (1555–1597)
 * Basilius Valentinus (Basil Valentine) (16/17th century)
 * Andreas Libavius (1555–1616)
 * François Béroalde de Verville (1556–1626)
 * Heinrich Khunrath (circa 1560–1605)
 * Oswald Croll (circa 1563-1609)
 * Melchior Cibinensis (16th century)
 * Michał Sędziwój (1566–1636)
 * Michael Maier (1568–1622)
 * Martin Ruland the Younger (1569 – 1611)
 * Jacob Boehme (1575–1624)
 * Jan Baptist van Helmont (1577–1644)
 * Arthur Dee (1579–1651)
 * Johann Daniel Mylius (c. 1583-1642)
 * William Backhouse (1593 – 1662)
 * Baro Urbigerus
 * Ali Puli (17th century)
 * Daniel Stolz von Stolzenberg (Daniel Stolcius) (1600–1660)
 * Johannes Nicolaus Furichius (1602-1633)
 * Edward Dyer (d. 1607)
 * Elias Ashmole (1617–1692)
 * Thomas Henshaw (1618–1700)
 * Edmund Dickinson (1624–1707)
 * Johann Friedrich Schweitzer (1625–1709)
 * Giuseppe Francesco Borri (1627–1695)
 * Robert Boyle (1627–1691)
 * George Starkey (alchemist) (1628–1665)
 * Eirenaeus Philalethes
 * Hening Brand (c.1630–1710)
 * Johann Kunckel (1630–1703)
 * Johann Joachim Becher (1635–1682)
 * Isaac Newton (1642–1727)
 * Claude Duval (1643–1670)
 * Dionysius Andreas Freher (1649–1728)
 * Georg von Welling (1652-1727)
 * Anton Josef Kirchweger ((d.1746))
 * Alessandro Cagliostro (1743–1795)
 * James Price (1752–1783)
 * Count of St Germain (d. 1784)
 * Johann Christoph von Wöllner (1732–1800)
 * August Strindberg (1849–1912)
 * Franz Tausend (1884–1942)
 * Fulcanelli (pseudonym; dates unknown: Late 19th century – early 20th.)

Revival and modern alchemists

 * Frater Albertus (Dr. Albert Reidel) (1911–1984)
 * Eugène Canseliet (1899–1982)
 * Jean Dubuis (1919–2010)
 * Marie-Louise von Franz (1915–1998)
 * Terrence McKenna (1946–2000)
 * Diane Di Prima (1932 – )

Fictional alchemists

 * Diablo, an enemy of the Fantastic Four
 * Characters from Fullmetal Alchemist
 * Riccardo and Aureolus Lorenzo Belli, Haunting Ground
 * Ivy Valentine, Soul Calibur
 * Rorolina Frixell, Totooria Helmold, and Merurulince Rede Arls, Arland Series
 * Magnus, The Vampire Chronicles
 * The Alchemist, The Venture Bros.
 * Daitokuji, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
 * Albus Dumbledore, Harry Potter
 * Sydney Sage, Vampire Academy
 * Myrnin, Morganville Vampires
 * Mrs. Muvias, The Secret Series
 * Epiphany Greaves-Constantine, Hellblazer
 * Claude Frollo, The Hunchback of Notre Dame
 * Count Manzeppi, The Wild Wild West